I set up a separate post for the short board tack debate. Stop trying to hijack this thread.

Tstizzle,

Thank you for such a nice post. With the death of Windsurfing magazine & only a couple of issues per year from Windsport, getting first hand, up-to-date information is just hard to find. Sitting here through a mild, windless winter, your forum blog was enjoyable and I'm sure boosted the windsurf stoke for many. Mr. Alcorn will tell me all about over a post session beer this summer I'm sure.

I set up a separate post for the short board tack debate. Stop trying to hijack this thread.

Tstizzle expressly requested advice on techniques for staying upwind, especially in marginal winds. Some of us responded. At the risk of confusion but if it makes you happy, I'll move my comments there and leave it up to Tstizzle if he wants to pursue the topic further.

you guys are all awesome! thanks for the positive feedback about the posts. i really appreciate it. i was reluctant to start this post, and i have to admit it has been a lot of work, with the bad internet connections here.

well, it has arrived: Day 14 of my two week trip to lake arenal / Ticowind. unfortunately, i have less time than i thought i would have because of a long day sailing and a bbq afterward (we got a kilo of fresh tuna loin and another of camarones from the coastal fisherman). so i don't think i will have time for another final post until i get home tomorrow night late.

i will post another then, however, and let you all know the summary of the trip's sailing conditions. for now, suffice it to say i sailed a 4.2 in the morning from 9 - 11:30 and then a 4.7 from 1:30 to 4:30. yep, you heard that right: 1:30 to 4:30. my palms are bleeding...

will post a summary asap, but it's likely it will be monday morning when that happens so, until then, thanks for listening and thank you for all the positive feedback!!!

Last edited by tstizzle on Tue Jan 21, 2014 1:28 pm; edited 1 time in total

there's no way i could get a pic of the swell. it's further out in the lake and all i have is a crappy point-n-shoot. plus, i'm more into the sailing than the picture-taking.

You and me both! Thanks for the clarification; it's a big help, since GoPros mash the swell flat and -- as I now know -- shoreshots don't do it justice.

yeah, i wish i could have done more to show the swell. i zoomed the point-n-shoot out to it's max but still... it's NOTHING like as big as the hatchery on a really windy day. but it still gets big. it's also much steeper and sharper than the hatchery, more like a wave-swell (if that makes sense). on a windy day like yesterday it was about 5-6 feet at its biggest.

well, the trip is over. nothing left to do but listen to the fat lady sing. off to the airport in a few minutes for the flight to houston and then san francisco.

in summary, we were here for 14 days of sailing. we sailed 13 out of 14. of those 13, about half were sub-5.0 for an average guy (i'm a "rounder" so i was a touch bigger).

the other half were a mix between small gear and bigger gear, 4.2 and 5.4. overall, not only reliably windy, but a great mix of wind speeds. just as your arms get tired, the wind eased up a bit.

the weather was warm and generally sunny. although the daytime often brought some clouds along with the wind. kind of like that old expression: don't like the weather? just wait 5 minutes. however, i'm going home as brown as a berry, so there was definitely plenty of sunshine.

people who come here come back year after year. my companion has been coming here for six or seven years and he is a relative newcomer (though accepted by the old guard). in other words, people who know, choose lake arenal.

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